Steve Brine responded on behalf of the Government to a special debate on brain tumours in Parliament on Thursday 19th April.
The debate was inspired by Baroness Tessa Jowell, who recently addressed Parliament about her own battle. The session was opened by Sarah Jones, the MP for Croydon Central, after the Speaker extended his welcome to Tessa Jowell, who was watching the debate with her family in the Under-Gallery. He said that he hoped she would feel "fortified and inspired by the warm embrace of Parliamentary love."
The debate, which lasted over two hours, heard from a wide range of contributors, including Jonathan Ashworth, James Brokenshire, who himself has returned to the House after serious medical treatment, Heidi Alexander and Jim Shannon.
Responding to the debate, Steve Brine told the House how listening to the speeches had been an absolute privilege, and it would be an experience he would remember for a long time.
He then confirmed how the Government would do everything it could to meet the challenge. He said: "Those who know me as the cancer Minister know that I am impatient and determined, as is the Secretary of State, to do well, to do better, and then to do better again in fighting cancer.
"I say that not out of arrogance or ministerial bluster but because I believe that this challenge is one that we can overcome. I was truly inspired when meeting the Baroness for the first time on Monday at the inaugural meeting of the UK brain tumour steering group."
He went on to set out priorities on research, data sharing and patient engagement, saying: "We must ensure that patients are at the centre and heart of our work on brain tumours, so we will build on the existing work to develop a clear timeline and plan for reducing the time to diagnosis for brain tumours, which is as important in this cancer as in all others."
Wrapping up the debate, which he later said was Parliament at its best with the Conservative and Labour united as one, he added: "Baroness Jowell has been the catalyst for this rapid activity on brain tumours, and it is incumbent on us all to continue to work closely together over the coming months and years to build on this legacy.
"She is here today, and I know that she will be watching us closely. As Theodore Roosevelt once said, now is the time for "painful effort...grim energy and resolute courage" to beat this terrible disease."
Pictured; Steve Brine with Baroness Tessa Jowell following the debate.
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